Praise the Lord, everybody! I am excited because this coming Sunday, I am going to be the student superintendent of our Sunday School, which means I have to get up before the congregation and review the week's lesson. The topic is "A New Covenant," so I am trying to gather information about the covenant and present it for review. I'll write what I have so far. Tell me what you think and if you have any additional information to help.

What Is A Covenant?
A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties. In today's language we might call it a contract. A covenant contains promises which may be based on certain conditions being met as well as penalties if the conditions are not met. Covenants usually involve a seal to put it into effect. There are many examples of covenants in the Bible, such as the covenant God made with Noah, in which He promised never to destroy the world by water again. This was sealed with a rainbow. Another example is the covenant God made with Abraham, in which he promised to make a great nation from Abraham's descendants. This covenant was sealed with circumcision.

Two of the most important covenants in the Bible are the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace. These are where we get the Old and New Testaments. I will talk about these in more detail.

What Was Wrong With the Old Covenant?
The Covenant of Works promised eternal life if and only if the Law was kept perfectly. In other words, you had to work to be righteous in the eyes of God. The penalty for disobedience to the Law is eternal death. As you can imagine, no one can keep the Law perfectly on their own. Therefore, we are all guilty of breaking the Law and deserving of death. The Covenant of Works was weak because it depended on human works.

What Was Better About the New Covenant?